James Loewen The Land Of Opportunity

From day one, middle-class merits are expected to do great things; they are expected to excel in school and sports, Brooks contends (194). He furthers this by saying that the activities that the middle-class participates in become the “bricks” of their identities (195). Brooks argues that character is not created in youth and just retained throughout life, but is built up gradually and people must struggle to maintain and improve throughout their lives (195). He moves his argument forward by talking about how society will reward these meritocrats (195, 196). Brooks believes that society is constantly praising these kids, and that this praise pushes them towards the realization that their success means nothing, unless they give back to society (196). He uses the example of a baseball player enjoying trips to clinics to share stories with the younger kids there (196). Brooks then moves into discussing the choices meritocrats must make later in life; he insists that some people can choose to be made famous because of looks or money (196). He says the other side of this, is to choose an opportunity more worthy of your time and others’ praise

Well-known essayist and writer, James W. Loewen, in his essay, The Land of Opportunity, argues that the common American people aren’t given equal opportunity in this day and age. Loewen effectively convinces his readers, high school teachers and history buffs that, social class and inequality is an important thing for students to learn and understand. Through convincing logical arguments he proves that American history books are giving students across the nation false information. According to Loewen, “social class is probably the single most important variable in society.” (Loewen para. 5) He goes on saying, “From womb to tomb, it correlates with almost all social characteristics of people that we can measure.” (Loewen para. 6) In addition, he establishes credibility with his audience by not accusing students or even instructors for this lack of knowledge, but clearly blames the textbooks used in high schools today. Lowen’s logical approach in exposing the lies that we are taught and taught to think leave the reader with the abitlity to empathize with him, ultimately getting the message across far more effectively.

While reading “Becoming a Learner” by Matthew L. Sanders, I found many interesting points on college education that I have never really focused on. One of my favorite statements that Sanders makes is that “who you are still matters more than what you can do because it speaks to your long term potential for success.” I thought this was very interesting and inspiring because it is encouraging the reader to focus on developing themselves rather than some impractical skills. I also thought it was really cool when Sanders made the point that “it’s not only what you do that counts; it’s also how you do it.” I thought that this quote is relatable on so many different levels, especially in the aspect of college. Sometimes you can take the easy way

In his excerpt entitled The Land of Opportunity author James Loewen highlights the invisible struggles of the middle class. Loewen’s chief complaint is that the segregation and exploitation of the working class has been marginalized by the American social elite and all but erased from high school history books. Mr. Loewen posits that the authors of our children’s textbooks “construe labor history as something that happened long ago, like slavery, and that like slavery, was corrected long ago” (Loewen). While it may be seen as insensitive to compare the labor movement to slavery, Mr. Loewen is joined by other authors and activists who argue against rewriting or marginalizing our history in order to preserve our “national identity”. In order for our nation to continue to excel, we must learn from our mistakes not hide them. American history has been tumultuous and rife with conflict; which has led to a shift in ideals, and thus aided in the elevation of the people as a whole – this struggle is necessary and must continue.

As I grew older, it was impossible to notice that my world was imperfect. In elementary school, all my parent’s problems here hidden; I didn’t understand my family’s economic status. As I grew older and began to ask my parents question about our lifestyle and compared it to the other people around us. This conversation would always end in the same place; because we can't afford it. My high school is composed of economically unstable families, and economically stable families. Seeing that other families were better off than mine, I grew up with the idea that a comfortable life, is a luxurious life. I know that others around

“It is those who are successful, in other words, who are most likely to be given the kinds of special opportunities that lead to further success. It’s the rich who get the biggest tax breaks. It’s the best students who get the best teaching and most attention.

bright young students who were not able to succeed to the fullest given their background

Another area many people tend to aim to be successful in is the concept of the American Dream. It is thought that if you live in America you need to fulfill the goal of achieving the American Dream and if it is not achieved or not meant to be achieved then the life lived has been a failure. Older generations and even present generations want the younger generations to get good grades, have a ‘successful’ college life, get a professional job, get married, have kids, and buy a big, just because that is normal to everyone but some may choose to live their life not as vanilla. William Zinsser talks about how everyone just follows the social norm in order to be seen as successful, “Our advertisements and TV commercials are a hymn to material success, our magazines articles a toast to people who made it to the top... He is our national idol, and everybody else is our national fink” (Zinsser 601). Becoming a specific type of successful is being pushed onto teenagers who are still struggling to find out who they are and what they want to do. They may want to figure out a different way to become successful in their own independent way.

Sociological imagination played a part in this story because the author Wes Moore made connections on how personal experiences relates to public issues. He grew up in poverty and maintained ambition to receive proper education. Thus this tells readers not to let where you came from or your downfalls hinder you from being successful. The Author Wes Moore displayed that education was the key to all future success. He also showed that there should always be a backup plan in case the funding runs out. In the book it wasn’t luck that determined the fates in

How do people perceive others’ limits when they've never had a chance to prove themselves? Miles Corwin, a newspaper reporter from the gang roaming streets of South Central, wrote And Still We Rise to enlighten the lives of the children who, despite the challenges they face around them, are madly driven to finish high school and seek better lives. The author wrote about twelve gifted students at Crenshaw High School, filled with hidden potential, to show that the neighborhood wasn’t just a place full of gang activity, but rather a place filled with students who wanted to grow up and make something of themselves knowing education was key. The targeted audience of the book were individuals who had similar problems to the students; Corwin

In chapter 7 from “Lies My Teacher Told Me was all about the truth behind social class and the truth of what kind of opportunities we really have in America. But not only that, its also about lies in what we are taught and what people are taught to think. This chapter pointed out why people feel and think the way they do. There was quote form the chapter that I liked because it explains that our books and what we are taught gives us the meanings of not truly understanding the truth. Even today we are blind to what the land of opportunity really stands for. “Since History textbooks present the American past as four hundred years of progress and portray our society as a land of opportunity in which folks get what they deserve and deserve what

Success has several definitions and differs for each person. However, In Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers”, Gladwell prattles about Lewis Terman, a young professor at Stanford University during the First World War who conducted a special experiment that who charted some people from childhood into adulthood. After scanning through the results, Gladwell concludes that socioeconomic status and class as a good indicator whether an individual was destined for the higher or lower group. However, Gladwell’s findings are not truly correct due to the fact that socioeconomic class and status are only some of the factors that determine whether a person belongs to the higher or lower group.

While the author, Malcolm Gladwell, does not dispute that hard work in a necessary component, we learn that many factors, lucky breaks, and some coincidences all occur in making high achievers into true outliers. We also learn that many of the richest, most famous, and most successful people in

One of the most engaging points that Leonhardt makes is the belief that someone’s economic class will greatly impact their decision on whether or not to go to college. This

In John Fante’s novel Ask the Dust, class plays a major role in trying to live out the American Dream. Since the main characters in this story are not wealthy, they are looked down upon as lower citizens. They are struggling to make ends meet working minimum wage jobs or not even working at all. For Arturo Bandini, he is having that exact problem. He has to go through earning a living, becoming a writer, and a confusing love life. Many people come to America or Los Angeles for that matter in search of wealth and popularity. They think they will see celebrities and meet famous people and then they will become famous as well. But after a while, they